Harding University is an insanely conservative Church of Christ-affiliated school in Searcy, Arkansas, just north of Little Rock. It’s one of those schools that, as a private institution, has the right to set its own policies. Unfortunately, as with any private Christian university, there will be students whose parents encourage them to go there, because of their beliefs, but who do not conform to the rigid, wingnut ideal encouraged by the school. Specifically, there will be gay students who are discriminated against just because of who they are, because even in a faith-based school in the hinterlands of Arkansas, where religious indoctrination, rather than education, is the number one priority, college is a time when many gay students finally find the courage to live with integrity and honesty. They are not misbehaving. They are who they are, and no number of poorly informed school policies will change that fact.
In that spirit, a group of LGBT students and alumni at Harding have created a zine which seeks to make their voices heard in the dark, lifeless halls of that place. Here is their opening letter:
Perhaps unsurprisingly, the administration immediately blocked access to the zine with their internet filter, and when asked for comment, said the following:
Harding University is a private Christian university whose mission and policies are rooted in biblical principles. All students are given a copy of the handbook and know about our mission and policies before their first day on campus. The student handbook states that the university holds to the biblical principle that sexual relationships are unacceptable to God outside the context of marriage and that sexual immorality in any form will result in suspension from the university.
Based on that policy, university administrators felt that having this website available on campus goes against said mission and policies. In addition, the handbook states that any literature distributed on campus must be approved by the Office of Student Life and must state the name of the sponsoring organization. These pamphlets were both printed and distributed anonymously with no prior approval, and the website is an online version of that pamphlet.
You see, fundamentalist wingnuttery dies when reality is allowed to shine in. Schools like Harding are only able to thrive if they do everything in their power to reject the real world outside their walls. That’s why their handbook has policies like this:
Harding University holds to the biblical principle that sexual relationships are unacceptable to God outside the context of marriage. Sexual immorality in any form will result in suspension from the University. Visiting in the residence of a single member of the opposite gender, even though others are present, without permission is prohibited.
Staying overnight in a motel, hotel or any such arrangement with a member of the opposite gender will result in suspension, although explicit sexual immorality may not have been observed.
Students are prohibited from possessing or displaying pornographic materials of any type. This includes the use of vulgarity, profanity, and any offensive language or offensive symbols.
Students are not allowed to social dance or go to dance clubs, bars, or other inappropriate places of entertainment.
The illegal, unauthorized use or abuse of Harding University’s telephone, computer or network system is prohibited.
Men and women are discouraged from excessive public displays of affection.
But what’s funny is that, due to the Harding administration’s puerile reaction to the publication, it’s getting far more attention than it ever would have. People all across the country today are disseminating the brave words of these Harding students and alumni, shining a light on the sad state of affairs in this backwoods clown college, and letting the students, administration and alumni of Harding and similar schools know that yes, LGBT people are there too.
Do yourself a favor and read through the zine, as it’s really a stellar publication. Alumni tell the stories of the truly insane crap that the “school” peddles to gay students, the anti-scientific way they go about “counseling” gay students, and students tell the stories of what religious abuse really does to gay people. They talk about what the closet is like, and they even take some time to explain the story of Sodom and Gomorrah to fundamentalist morons who apparently have never heard of a concordance.
Enjoy, and share it far and wide. And to the intellectually bereft scolds who run Harding: enjoy your little moment of shame. That sound? Other schools laughing at you.
Josh said “Your argument is with God, not with me, I just happen to agree with God.”.
I tried arguing with your god several times but all I got was silence – maybe its because he doesn’t exist? No Josh, my argument isn’t with an imaginary being, its with bigots like you who pretend to have a divine justification for your bigotry. That may help you into deceiving yourself into believing you’re not an oppressor but it doesn’t change the fact that you are.
Josh said “I have seven degrees”.
LOL, and throughout those seven degrees they never taught you that its a fallacy to suggest that having seven degrees means your right. You’re pretty dumb Josh.
@Joel. You said “Harding is not for everyone, neither is Heaven”. Are you implying that those who choose not to attend Harding are probably destined to go to hell?
Yes, you are. Harding did a good job brainwashing you. You see, I remember Harding and every day in chapel, we were told that if we went to one of those “heathen state schools” that our souls would be in jeopardy of eternal damnation. This is in part how the Cult of Church of Christ operates, and how they keep cash flowing into their institutions of higher learning (lower learning, if you ask me). They manipulate students and their families, by insisting the road to heaven is paved through attending a Church of Christ college.
You see, Joel, it may comes a shock to you, but many people who attend non-church affiliated universities, are perfectly decent people. They are nice. They don’t threaten other people with eternal damnation. They may not even smoke, drink alcohol, or engage in premarital sex. Sure, some do, but Harding paints all of them with a broad brush. They make it sound like state schools are a bastion of heathens who attend orgy sessions twenty-four hours a day.
“If you don’t attend Harding, you are a bad person. Period.” This is the either/or, black or white thinking that fundamentalist Christianity promotes.
Also, regarding your comment: “If you don’t like Harding, go somewhere else, like Afganistan, they have good schools, just quit complaining.”
Joel, there are plenty of good schools right here in the U.S.A., no need to travel. Harding is not the only college in this nation. But I would gladly attend college in Afghanistan before I would go back to Harding University. The campus was crawling with thugs and there were times I was literally afraid to leave my dorm room. I was threatened a couple of times, stalked by two different male students, and assaulted. I also had many things stolen from me during the four years I was there. I complained to the Dean of Women, and she told me it was my fault.
I also think the quality of education at Harding is mediocre at best. I recently embarked on a second degree plan, but I had to take three semesters of remedial algebra at a local college. I also had to get a tutor for biology and chemistry, because the science classes at Harding did not prepare me.
The only good that came out of my time at Harding, was the wisdom I’ve gained about fundamentalist Christianity in America, and the Church of Christ. At least I know to protect my children from these radical religions.
Airhart: Prov. 1:7
Hurst: Eccl. 10:13
Lynn: Job 33:14
Ex-Harding student: I’m sorry you were mistreated at Harding, that was shameful. I meant exactly what I said in #10, no reference to any school is intended. My children didn’t want to go to Harding, and I did not force them. Sadly, not everyone will make it to Heaven. Ezek. 18:32. I also attended and graduated from: Mount Marty College, Yankton, SD; University of Missouri, Kansas City; Midwestern State University, Wichita Falls, TX; and St. Louis University, besides the three times at Harding in Searcy and Memphis. I know what it is like in other private schools and in several state schools. I also attended Memphis State University and while in the USAF had classes at the US Air Force Academy in Colorado, Springs. There are good people to be found everywhere and if you’re looking for them, bad people. You usually find what you’re looking for in life, end up doing what you want to do, and have no one to blame for your mistakes but yourself. Many people carry baggage and issues with them all their life, unless they find someone that can help. Several people who have written in this blog have serious issues that have not been resolved. There is a long history behind my life to explain why everything happened as it did, but I always maintained my own thinking. There were things at Harding that I didn’t like, but that’s because there are humans there. I’m not perfect either, and I did not expect that of them. I don’t answer to God for anyone else. I have also had close contact with the prison system in Arkansas, and I can tell you that the unfairness there, is 1000X worse than anything you have ever experienced. I know this first hand. Those poor souls really have my sympathy. You would not believe the stories I could tell. You just cannot imagine. But back to Harding, it is different for everyone. No one should be there if they do not want to be. Some of the mindset in the churches of Christ you see in the South is a result of the culture. I have been in 18 foreign countries on 3 continents and I have seen different cultures worship God in the churches of Christ a little different. Keep you focus on the text and keep studying. You can find an answer for any question if you study it enough. And keep yourself open to more learning. Never get to the point that you have learned everything about any particular point. John 16:12.
Lynn: you can call me Joel if you want to.
[...] days. A couple of months back, students and alumni at Harding University in Searcy, Arkansas, launched the Harding University Queer Press, to give a voice to LGBT people forced to suffer in the [...]
It is a bizarre irony of evangelism that it has had such an unintended alienating effect. One almost has to deny Christ (to avoid association with insane zealots) in order to express humanely the wonderful precepts and teachings of Jesus. Christ was inclusive; fundamentalists are not. Christ showed love implicitly; fundamentalists generally do not. Christ untangled the clever invective of the hypocrites and exposed them for who they were; fundamentalists cruelly twist scripture into a weapon of mass destruction to harm and obliterate people; Christ used persuasion and love; fundamentalists use tyranny and hatred. He spoke sternly to the hypocrites: “brood of vipers” and “I will spew (regurgitate) you out of my mouth.” Can’t you see that fundamentalism by its very (arrogant/elitist) nature is diametrically opposed to what is holy and Christ-like? For God’s sake, get some sense. Is it more important to be “right” than to be receptive in a spirit of humility? The Bible is not the sole manifestation of divinity. Nor is the Bible bereft of error/manipulation over the centuries. Be like the scarecrow, the tinwoodman, and the lion: Have a brain, a heart, and some courage to trust God and love your neighbor as yourself. Study Senecan philosophy, the Gnostics, Buddhism, etc., and discover something about other ways of interpreting divinity and truth. The pieces fit together well.
Okay, if you choose to go to school there then you must be aware of their rules and faith based morals and you need to abide by those. If you check out the college and decide its not for you then simply don’t go there. Its really pretty simple. Its another way of the leftists trying to enfore their lifestyles on the conservatives. We’ve stood quiet way too long we need to start voicing our moral beliefs, rules and not change them just for those who want to whine about it. Go to college somewhere else.
No Hurst, fight prejudice where you are. If you’re expelled so be it, but try to change things while you’re there. It’s not whining–it’s standing up for your rights everywhere. The college may very well have the right to dictate their students sexuality–but those students also have the right to protest it.
Hurst said “you check out the college and decide its not for you then simply don’t go there. Its really pretty simple. Its another way of the leftists trying to enfore their lifestyles on the conservatives.”.
It never fails to amaze me how social conservatives make such statements and yet are willfully blind to the logical fallacy they are. Liberals aren’t trying to force their lifestyles on conservatives here, conservatives are trying to force their liberals – its conservatives telling liberals they can’t be gay, the liberals aren’t telling any conservatives they have to be gay. Once again, the truth is the exact opposite of conservative rhetoric. Conservatives think if they aren’t allowed to dictate how liberals live then that’s liberals “forcing their values on conservatives”.
Hurst said,
“Its another way of the leftists trying to enfore their lifestyles on the conservatives. We’ve stood quiet way too long we need to start voicing our moral beliefs, rules and not change them just for those who want to whine about it.“
Apparently, you are so lacking in self-awareness that you cannot see how hilarious that statement is. When have controlatives ever been quiet and shy about voicing their moral beliefs and demanding that government impose them on everyone?
Right Richard, Hurst says himself he wants to enforce rules on sexuality and yet somehow its supposed to be liberals forcing their values on conservatives and not vice versa.